Hebburn man punched ex-partner in face in row over drugs as his one-year-old baby lay upstairs in bed

Adam Brown, 28, claimed he struck with his fist in self-defence when she blew up in anger after he failed to deny he had taken drugs on Christmas Day.

But Brown, of Dorset Avenue, Hebburn, also hurled a can which ricocheted off the floor and struck just below her left eye, borough magistrates heard.

His attack, at the woman’s Gateshead home, left her with a bust upper lip, a blackened left eye and a deep two-inch cut just below.

Both had boozed during the festive family gathering, with labourer Brown sinking eight beers and liquor shots.

The assault happened as the couple’s year-old child lay upstairs in bed, and with Brown’s dad trying but failing to play peacemaker.

Brown denied a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm but changed his plea to guilty on the day of trial.

Magistrates jailed him for 26 weeks, suspended for 18 months, and ordered he pay his victim £1,250 compensation.

Prosecutor Stephen Davies said: “They had been together for two-and-a-half years. She describes the relationship as going downhill.

“They were at home on Christmas Day. She describes drinking half a bottle of gin, and she does not know how much he had drunk.

“At 9.30pm, she describes him as being ‘fazed and quiet’, and she asked him if he had taken drugs.

“He seemed to accept that he had taken drugs, but she was not sure what. He became aggressive.

“She pushed him away to his chest and he punched her in the face, splitting her lip.

“When interviewed, he said there had been an incident. He accepts being responsible for the injuries to her.

“She has attended court today to give evidence. The scar is still visible.”

In a victim statement, the woman said she had given Brown a chance to improve his lifestyle, but he had “got worse”.

His previous convictions include sexually assaulting a female at a wake in a Hebburn pub in 2020 and punching a man who intervened.

For the sex attack, he was placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

Peter Farrier, defending, said Brown’s ex-partner had drunk the gin by Christmas Day lunchtime and had later gone for him over the drugs matter.

Mr Farrier added: “There are two sides to the story. When they got together at weekends, he tells me that they used to drink to excess.

“It was Christmas, their child was upstairs in bed. He says that he had eight cans and some shots.

“There was a conversation about drugs. They were both the worse for wear. They were squabbling and arguing.

“She came towards Mr Brown. She was like a whirling dervish, going for him. He threw a can into the floor in a fit of pique.

“It went between the father and into her face. It was a reckless act. He has not deliberately assaulted her.”

Magistrates also ordered Brown to complete up to 27 rehabilitation days with the Probation Service.